Passion Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Practical Suggestions for Cultivating Communion with God – Kelly Kapic (Crossway)
Communion with God is a deep need for every human, whether we acknowledge the need or not. Communion with God is how we were made to function, and it is ultimately about a loving and very present relationship with the triune Creator.

Two Gifts You Give To Others in Your Sanctification – Tim Challies
Your sanctification is a gift to others. Your continual growth in holiness is not something you emphasize merely for your own benefit or your own assurance, but something you pursue for the benefit of others.

One Man’s Dream Destroyed Millions – Jon Bloom (DG)
We must confront our own wicked proneness to objectify others and resolve all the more to war against it. We humans have a horrible, sinful tendency to view others as roles — too often expendable “extras” — in the epic moving picture of our story, not souls in the real epic of God’s story.  The fallen human nature, unhinged from God’s reality, seeks to construct its own preferred reality. And it uses other people to do it.

Are You a Healthy Church Member? – Thabiti Anyabwile (Crossway)
A healthy church member is someone that, in one sense, shares all the sensibilities of a good pastor. They’re going to have a concern for the spiritual growth of others, they’re going to have a concern for the right teaching of God’s Word, and they will have a concern for the church’s witness to the community, for reaching their neighbors and friends.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church!

Sermon Songs: Revelation 6:9-17

MusicNotes

Lo He comes with justice bringing, Answering the martyr’s cry
Faithful witnesses to our King, For Him were willing to die
Now with white robes, Christ’s righteousness
Waiting for justice to come

Lo He comes with justice bringing, Ominous signs in the sky
There will be a cosmic shaking, Hear the wicked’s desperate cry
Rocks fall on us, From God hide us
The day of God’s wrath has come

Lo He comes with justice bringing, Stand firm and commit to pray
Love and turn from vengeance seeking, Hope in Christ and Him obey
Repent from sin, Go with good news
Waiting for justice to come

To the tune of “Lo He Comes With Clouds Desending”

Revelation Quote

RevQuotes

We must come to the point where what matters most to us is faithfulness to God.  Faithfulness to the Word of God and the gospel must be more important to us than pleasure, more important to us than leisure, and more important than life itself.  We must value faithfulness to God and his word more than we value the ability to go on living our peaceful, happy lives.

– James M. Hamilton, Jr. on Revelation 6 in Revelation (PTW)

Reflections on Job 40-42

Job says he will be quiet, and God begins to speak again.  Job repents and God restores him.  Observe:

  • Everything belongs to God – Since God created everything, everything is his (41:11). All that you have is really his.  Anything you might give to God was already his before you gave it.  If God owns everything you have, how should this affect your attitude toward things?  Your use of things?  Be specific.
  • Repentance – Job has found fault with God, even condemning God (40:2, 8). Job acknowledges that he spoke of what he didn’t understand (42:3).  He shuts his mouth (40:4-5), and repents (42:6).  Is there something you are judging God for – some way you are finding fault with God?  Will you humbly repent before him?

Church Collection

Here are some good posts for Pastor Appreciation Month:

The Cheap Way to Bless Your Pastor – Kevin DeYoung

3 Reasons Your Pastor Desperately Needs Prayer And Encouragement – Stephen Altrogge

How to Pray for Your Pastor – Melton Duncan (Ligonier)

8 Prayers You Should Regularly Pray For Your Pastor – Stephen Altrogge

Q&A#1: Verses for Reflection

Q: What is our primary purpose in life?
A: Our primary purpose in life is to love God and people, in response to His love for us, for the glory of God.

Verses To Reflect on Loving People for His Glory
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
– I Corinthians 13:4-7

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
– John 13:34-35

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
– I John 3:16-18

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
– I Corinthians 10:31

Questions To Ponder
What do these passages teach us about loving people?
How do you need to grow in your love for others?

Revelation Quote

RevQuotes

God has been allowing crimes and injustices and blasphemies and abominations for so long, and he has been tolerating such lies and calumnies to be spoken about him all these years. Revelation 6 promises that one day the wrath will begin to fall. The debt finally comes due. Justice will be done. The wicked will give account. The righteous will be avenged. God will be glorified in his justice.

– James M. Hamilton, Jr. on Revelation 6 in Revelation (PTW)

Reflections on Job 36-39

Elihu begins to speak of God’s power and wisdom in creation, and then God himself takes up the refrain.

  • God’s power and wisdom – Statement upon statement followed by question upon question overwhelmingly points to God’s awesome power and wisdom over creation. Ponder these words.  Go outside and see.  Be in awe.  Fall down in worship before your Creator.